Paradise Lost
by Inevitablemoving
Summary: An AU of Weirdmaggedon: Escape from Reality. Dipper makes a wager with the caretaker of Mabel's Bubble. If he can endure all temptation, Mabel will be released, and if he doesn't, he's trapped there forever. Dipper fails to realise the extent of the mind-games and manipulation that will affect him...
1. Prologue

Prologue:

"Ah!" Dipper screamed. "You're not real!"

For once in his life, paranoia had been to his benefit. The initial excitement that Wendy had finally returned his full affections had blinded him, but only for a moment; Wendy did not wink. Wendy, or rather this recreation of Wendy, did not move at this accusation. Her face, at first lively and loving, slowly drained itself of energy, and finally into a sigh. She stood up and stretched. Dipper squinted in cautious confusion, before he jumped back, as her visage morphed before him, clothes and flesh as one, seemingly slithering back inside a skin. Then a glow seemed to emanate, and it grew brighter, until Dipper could not perceive this phantom under the light. With a jittering suddenness, the glowing ceased, and Dipper could see what had become of "Wendy." Gone was the copy, and a new woman was there, one he did not recognize. It was the figure of an older woman, probably in her mid 30s, covered entirely below her neck by a robe of passionate red, with no sight of her arms or legs. The face, the only human feature of whatever this was, had a kind, worldly smile on its face, not unlike a teacher, or a nurse. It had coal black hair, angelically white skin, and an element of motherly affection in its apple green eyes, which stared back at Dipper warmly; he returned only a look of distress and perplexity.

"Well," it said gently, smiling as if embarrassed, "You caught me!" This ghost seemed entirely unconcerned about having being discovered. "That wasn't really Wendy. She's off vandalizing that silly school like she dreamed of every class, and having quite a good time too. Apart from that, _it was_ pretty much her a while back, or rather, your ideal version of her."

"No, no it wasn't!" yelled Dipper defiantly. "That wasn't Wendy! That can never be Wendy! It was just a made up fantasy, like…whoever you are!"

The illusion snickered childishly. " _Your_ fantasy! Oh trust me, there are _plenty_ of things you fantasize about with Wendy that I'm somewhat thankful we didn't get around to."

Dipper froze, before starting to burble an attempted defence. His face fried under the heat of his embarrassed blushing.

"Ha! Relax," she said reassuringly. "Your dreams are pretty PG for a boy who's nearly 13. They're rather cute, honestly."

"You can read my mind?" asked Dipper suspiciously.

"No, but I can read your heart."

"Who _are_ you?"

She looked around the world she was surrounded by, like one would look at their child. "I'm the caretaker of Mabel's fantasy world, but you can call me Eve. I'm always here, and I'll always show up whenever you feel down to make you feel better. It's my mission to give you whatever your deepest dreams and desires may be."

"Well thanks, but I already know what my deepest desire is," Dipper pointed accusingly. "Getting Mabel to leave this stupid place, and stopping Bill!"

Eve shook her head slowly, with a smile still locked on her face. "Oh Dipper, don't think you can convince me so easily. You can't lie to me. I know absolutely everything about what you want, and what's more important, I know what you want in your bleakest moments. You want to stop Bill, sure, but there are deeper reasons for it. You think you're doing all this out of altruism? I can see into your heart Dipper Pines, and I know that is not the case."

Dipper stared in anxious confusion. What did it mean? What else was telling him to save the world, other than it just being _right_? Was it a trick? He looked around nervously, fearing a surprise attack.

"Relax, Dipper," said Eve, in a voice so soothing it was probably the only tone that could have stopped him sprinting out of this place. "The last thing I want to do is hurt you. Indeed, I literally _cannot_ hurt you; pleasure is the only thing this Bubble was made for. With me, you can only get what you want. How many times in your life have you wished for a moment like this? To hold in your palm the chance to do anything you want, get anything you want, _be_ anything you want?"

Dipper shook his head. "Look, whoever you are, Eve, Wendy, whatever, you can spare the sales pitch. I'm leaving, and my sister's coming too!"

Eve registered no concern on her face, still acting like the solemn mother. "Dipper Pines, if there's anything that's true about you, it's that you always want to get to the bottom of things, right?"

Dipper was worried that this "Eve" knew so much of his personal motivations, but he gave a thoughtful nod.

"And you say there is no way that you could possibly fall for all this temptation?"

"You got that right!"

She walked up to him, and leant over, now eye-to-eye. "Let's make a little wager, alright? You come with me, and I show all the things that you crave for, right down to your deepest desire of all. If you refuse them all, I will cease to function, and will let your sister go. The best part? If you fail, then you still get everything you ever want."

Dipper was stunned by the offer, and could barely process it.

"Look," she said, in a human, earthly tone Dipper assumed would be foreign to her, "I'm only doing my job here. I'm not Bill Cipher's minion, here to trick you and destroy you. My job is to make you happy, and do whatever I can to make you a better, stronger version of yourself. You can walk away right now, and try to get your sister another way, but I know some things about you Dipper Pines, and I know you love to be challenged."

Dipper entered intense mental combat between the two competing arguments. On one side was his reason, that he had to leave this place immediately, and on the other was his desire, to know what he truly wanted most of all. And then came the thing that tipped the balance; arrogance. Arrogance told him that, having already rejected temptation beforehand, he was a lock to survive whatever nonsense the Bubble threw at him next. Not to mention, he was only tricked into buying that copy of Wendy, and now he'd know it was all a fake. He liked these odds.

Dipper smiled overconfidently. "So I've just got to walk around a little bit, and you let Mabel go? Alright, let's see what you've got."

Eve smiled thankfully. "Oh Dipper, you've made the best decision of your life."

She turned and walked down the creek. Dipper followed in confusion, wondering where she was going. He looked beyond her, and could see an uncharacteristic fog in the distance, which devoured everything before it. _He was going in that_? Eve stopped at the precipice, and gave a playful point of the head, a disarming enough response to encourage Dipper to walk into the mist. He reluctantly entered this ether.

"I'll be right beside you all the way, Dipper," she assured him. "You deserve that much."

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	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

After walking so deep into the fog that he could not see where he entered, and the darkness surrounded him in the bleak landmark-less haze, Dipper, fraught with worry, followed the steps of the enigmatic caretaker, Eve. He wondered what ran through her thoughts, if she even had any at all. Was she genuinely as caring as she made out to be? Was it all a bluff? Was she Cipher in the flesh? Even as all these accusatory thoughts crossed his mind, he never for a moment considered leaving her side. His quick glances to her face, which was never obscured, no matter how dense the fog was, had a warm affection he had only gotten from one person in his life, as if she need be named. What was somewhat unsettling though was that she'd always turn to face him at the exact points when he sought her glance. Dipper almost felt like reciprocating her smile, but whenever he considered, the reality of the situation struck him on the temple, and he refocused his efforts.

"Dipper," said Eve, "We're just about here."

"Where?"

"Where you were always at your most vulnerable."

The fog began to clear on it's own, and an intense sunlight cracked the haze. As Dipper looked to the ground to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness, he saw a sidewalk perfectly materialize at his feet, like the ones of his own world. Barely processing it, he looked up to see something he certainly didn't think he was going to see; autumn colours falling, the sight of children laughing, and a slightly battered sign, which read "Piedmont Middle School." He was back in class.

He looked back to see what had happened to Mabel's stylized world, but though he looked in every direction, he could not see a trace of the Bubble. Every nook and cranny was exactly how he'd remembered it at home, down to the smell of the air, the bumps of the road, and the cracks on the pavement. It was as real as the real world. The fog had long since disappeared, and the direction they had come was an impassable marathon of trees and buildings. His mind boggled at this paradox, and only the ringing of the bell snapped back a semblance of control.

Eve gazed appreciatively around the school, as the children cleared the yard, and then looked back to Dipper. "Isn't it just like you remembered it?"

" _School_ is my deepest desire?" asked Dipper in a unique mixture of anxiousness and disappointment. "Aw man, that is _lame_."

The caretaker gave a rosy laugh. "No, no no! There are plenty of things I need you to see before we reach that point, so that you can understand the sort of person you really are."

Dipper matched the pace she drifted into the deserted courtyard, a pace slow enough so he could consume all the minor details around him; the full pallet of fall colors on the trees, the strong, white chalk on the ground, and the soothing winds. Dipper's senses were enlivened, and the silence of all but the wind left a meditative bliss that lowered his guard.

As they reached the main doors, Eve kept walking, and the doors opened by themselves. Dipper felt he should have been more concerned about it than he was, but the surroundings had taken most of his fears away. In the distance he could hear the familiar masses of anonymous sounds, echoing down the hallway; the friends laughing together, and the cliques plotting together. He was reminded him of his failings: Where was his friendship group? What crazy stories could he tell his children about his time in school? Why couldn't he have fun like they did? Dipper did not like existing on an entirely different plane in school; one where the popular kids seemed to exist, and the one where he would grind every day. Even the not so popular kids seemed to have some semblance of recognition. Dipper started the day at home, went to school, and went home again, almost entirely without exception. No sleepovers with friends, no adventures, not even sports; nothing. All of these old demons raced through his mind as he and the caretaker walked to the door of his classroom, the noises coming from there now having faces to place to the sounds; Natalie, Susie, Amy and many others.

"Why'd you bring me here?" Dipper asked Eve. "You know I hated most of my time in school…or, I guess you do?"

She looked at the tinted glass of the window, and looked back to Dipper again. She was pleased by how inquisitive he was. "Dipper, I know you had a hard time at school. I can feel it inside you. What I want you to do is open that door."

Dipper was confused at the curtness of the demand, suspecting a ruse of some kind. But as he slowly opened the door, repeatedly looking back to Eve to see if she had any tricks up her sleeve, it opened into the classroom, and to Dipper's horror, all talking immediately stopped. It was going to be one of these awkward moments when everyone looked at him entering late, rather than a smooth, stealth entrance as preferred. So he cringed, and walked inside, glancing briefly at the class, who, to his further horror were _all_ looking in his direction. This was certainly a confusing concept of desire, but Dipper gutted it out. He pulled his hat down to cover his eyes, and walked briskly to the back of the room, where his desk was; his desk wasn't there. He flicked his hat back up to look around, but he still couldn't see it.

At this point, he thought he had it worked out: The reason they were all so conscious of Dipper was because they had pranked him by stealing his desk. Dipper gritted his teeth, and looked around. "Okay, where's my desk?" he asked peevishly.

The class looked at him with confused, but admiring eyes. It was an expression he was not used to getting, but he did understand pointing, and he saw a slow stream of hands rising, and pointing towards the teacher's desk. Dipper squinted and looked at each of the people pointing, thinking they were mocking him further, but as he looked up again, the caretaker herself was standing beside the desk.

"Don't you want to start teaching your class?" she smiled.

Dipper's jaw dropped. " _I'm the teacher_?!"

"Why, yes!" she said rosily. "You've seen that dope of a teacher grind through every lesson like a somnambulist, and you were screaming for a chance to get up there, and prove yourself to your classmates. You were never really cut out for any of this 'party at eight' nonsense. You felt you had to prove yourself academically to make people like you, and you fantasized about being that dream teacher who everyone liked, and everyone looked up to. You liked that idea."

Dipper started sweating, and walked towards her. "B-but what do I even teach?"

Eve gestured to the chalk on the desk, which Dipper slowly picked up. "Whatever you want, Dipper. It's your fantasy."

She walked out of the way, giving Dipper a free view of the blank chalkboard; a whole world of imagination open to him. Here was a chance to touch his once-fellow students in a way he could never do before. His hand trembled as the chalk neared the board. He looked back to his class, all staring at him in genuine admiration, a concept entirely foreign to Dipper, who was blown away by its effect. He turned to Eve, who was standing near the door, beaming appreciatively, like a mother to a son.

Then Dipper saw something that shook him out of this delusion. He put the chalk down, and rushed towards Eve, or more specifically, the pictures behind her. He looked at the collection of photos in stunned disbelief, and stared at them to no end. They were from second-grade photo day. He looked for his name, and there he was, smiling in his beanie, with a confidence that was alien to him. Then he looked for his sister, bracing himself for what he found, but there was Mabel, and her hair as perfect as she always wanted it. The whole class was smiling brightly and optimistically, as one, harmonic unit.

"What's the matter?" asked Eve calmly.

"This didn't happen," Dipper growled.

"Did it not?"

"No! Mabel had gum put in her hair, and her photo day was ruined! Neither of us were allowed in."

"Not in this world Dipper. Here, no one in your class would have dared hurt you or Mabel on such an important day. Your photo went perfect, and then you went out for ice cream. You two had a wonderful time together."

"But that's not what happened!"

"But isn't it what you _wanted_ to happen?"

"Who cares? It _happened_!"

Eve knelt down, with a sombre look, and said in a whisper, "Look in your desk, second drawer on the right."

Dipper raised an eyebrow at her tone, a much more serious one than he was used to from her, and paced over to 'his' desk, mentally preparing himself for whatever came at him. He put his hand to the rail, and pulled back, but nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. The sight alone paralysed him, and he froze beneath a stream of terrible memories, flooding back to haunt him. He didn't even hear Eve coming from behind him to monitor his reaction. If the 82nd Airborne had burst through the door, he still wouldn't have paid attention. His shaking hands entered the drawer, and, with trembling fingers, lifted them out on to the desk; they were his fourth-grade Valentine's Day cards, or rather, the cards he never got. Each card had it's own colour, it's own unique handwriting, and it's own unique message:

"Hey Dipper! :) I think you're the cutest boy in the whole class! You are so amazing, I'd love for you to be my Valentine! XOXO - Amy"

"Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, there's nothing I'd like more, than spend a lifetime with you. –Susie"

"Happy Valentine's Day Dipper! You are so smart, brave and talented! I love everything about you! That pink nose, curly hair, and that cool birthmark! Will you be my Valentine? :):):) –Natalie"

Dipper read every one, his jaw gaping further as he let each little detail sink in, each little compliment, and each person's name. He clutched his hands against their very real texture, and stared back at their writers with astonished eyes; they all replied with thankful, loving looks, the sort of looks that Dipper had never received in his whole life. He could feel tears welling up behind his eyes. Putting them all down on his table, he stared at them, and turned to Eve, who was already perched in waiting.

"Dipper," she said, "You know how unfair school's been to you. You were the nicest boy in that class, the smartest, most talented, and yet, every girl treated you like garbage. You held open the door, and they never even said 'thank you.' Why did they all move towards the lowlifes? The ones who spat on you, and called you names? They _knew_ they were no good, but they keep falling at their feet anyway, because _they're bad,_ and _they're cool_. And they know deep down that they're going to cheat on them, and they're going to leave them, but they keep on doing it, and while you were always there, they'll just _forget you even existed_. All the grades in the world won't make up for not being loved. Nobody wants you to be like this Dipper; not me, you… _not Mabel_."

Dipper shot an anxious glance back, the final word piercing a deep emotional wound.

She moved in for the kill. She knelt to eye-level, and delivered a hypnotically intense gaze. She gave him a smile that communicated an eternal affection. "That birthmark on your head? You used to pray every night for it go away, but it never did. Why? Because deep down, you still loved it. What you should have prayed for was that other people would. Here, love is fair, it's returned, and it's more wonderful than you can imagine. Silly things like a birthmark can't hold that love back. Just let go, Dipper. You know you've always wanted this to come true. You matter, Dipper. Have life treat you right…for once."

Dipper looked deep into her eyes, then to the ground, then to the class, and then to the ground again. He thought, and he thought, until he sighed. His fists clenched as painful memories brought themselves to the fore. "Look, I always wanted people to like me. I didn't want to be the most popular, I didn't want to have everything, just more than what I had…I had nothing. Apart from the grades, yeah, school sucked, I can't deny it. I didn't like the teacher, most of the other kids wouldn't accept me, because I was so…different. I spent a lot of time by myself at the end of the playground. I was miserable most of the time, and I wished things could have been different."

He straightened upright, and looked the caretaker in the face. "But you know who was there, every time? Mabel was. Mabel could never go a moment if she thought I was sad. Every time I felt down, she was right there beside me, to make me smile, to make me laugh, to make me happy. With girlfriends, you know, there's plenty of fish in the sea…but I only have one sister, and Mabel is the coolest sister in the world. I'll be damned if I won't do for her what she did every time I was in trouble."

He paused. "I love Mabel; I'll go to heck and back to save her, and I'll go through this Bubble too. Sorry, but _not_ interested."

Eve discreetly bit her lip, just about holding her smile, but Dipper could sense that he had hurt her. Soon, he heard an eerie whooshing, and a cold blast of wind at his back. He spun around to where he assumed the door was, to find that an impenetrable fog had taken its place. He looked back to the class, to find they had vanished from their seats. He jumped in shock, before he remembered that they were merely figments of imagination. He realized with a chill how quickly he had come to accept the concept of them as living beings.

Eve's voice maintained that gentle cheer, as she stood back up, and walked towards the once-door. She turned around at the precipice, and stared back at Dipper. "Alright then, if you care so much about your sister, why don't we see _what she thinks_?

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	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The fog was even darker this time. Dipper reluctantly tagged behind Eve, still nursing his emotional wounds from before. It was here that he began to fear that he would not make it, and that he'd surrender. He knew there was more to come, and he was too intimidated to ask how much more there was to go. The confidence that he entered with had since abated. It had already taken a lot out of him, and he knew that at this rate, he'd lose. He closed his eyes and breathed heavily. He knew how to regain his composure:

"For Mabel," he whispered. "I'm doing this for Mabel."

"Dipper Pines," Eve began, without turning around, in a more neutral tone than her prior conversations, "Why do you think you fantasized about being a teacher?"

"I dunno…maybe…"

"You know why," she replied alarmingly quickly.

Dipper sighed. If she could look into his heart and make all sorts of judgements about him, it probably made sense to just talk about them. "I guess I always wanted to be an adult, and I pretended I was most of the time," he confessed. "A lot of people called me out on it, but I always made better friends with my teachers than the students. I'd hold up the newspaper like I knew what the heck I was even reading, do nothing but watch wildlife documentaries for days, never read books that had pictures in them; I mean, I just _could_ _not_ grow up fast enough. And to make it more embarrassing, I was always behind in the puberty department; chest hair, muscles, all that stuff. When I was a kid, every day I'd just dream about what I'd do when I was grown up. I guess that's been my biggest wish."

"Close, but not quite. It's not that you _wanted_ to be an adult, you simply wanted to stop being a kid."

Dipper squinted. "What's the difference?"

Something unpleasant began to form in Eve's voice. She was much more harsh, and threatening. "The first says that you were motivated by wanting to be the adult, and the second says you hated being a kid. Being a teacher was the best rebuttal to that; there was a grown up, and children, and you were the grown-up. You were making up for something in your life, Dipper. What was it?"

Dipper was flustered, and clutched his head in confusion. "I-I don't know! What do you want me to say?"

"No matter," she said in her frostiest tone yet, before coming to a stop, "You'll find out soon enough."

At this, Dipper saw a red haze begin to arise at her feet, and begin to climb majestically through the vapour. Soon, the surrounding fog itself began to change its hue to red, and began to consume everything around them. At that moment, the mist began to clear. Dipper, as before, stared at the ground to get a first look at the new scene. As the red receded, a grey came to be, but not the grey of the pavement, but a carpet. Dipper knew instantly what it was. He did not have to see the walls, the beds, or the window to get a grasp as to where he was; it was his room, and not in the Mystery Shack, but back home in Piedmont.

The world filled itself with startling clarity. It was dark outside, and the only light came from the red-shaded lamps on the desks beside their beds at opposite sides of the room. It was raining outside, and the pleasant, meditative whisper of the pattering gave the room an intimate, snugly warmth that could be felt beneath the skin. The floor was soft and comfy, despite the obstacle course of Mabel's stuffed animals scattered like a bread-trail, leading to a mini-kingdom of stuffed animals resting at the ends of her bed. All of Mabel's posters were correct, in the same jumbled chaos he remembered, with boy-bands, art-projects, and family photos smothering the wallpaper around it. And Dipper's bed was exactly as he remembered it too, with three neatly ordered posters on the wall, the Amazon, the Great Barrier Reef, and the Siberian tundra; all as vivid as the dreams he used to have every night about them. Under his bed was the full extent of his book collections, from Jules Verne, to H.G. Wells. Last but not least was the chest beneath the window, and between the two desks and beds, where the duo put their shared memories and games together. When Dipper felt sad, sometimes, even so much as opening the chest released a soaring wave of release and healing. Dipper had to admit it; if ever there was one place in the world he felt safer, he hadn't found it yet. Dipper looked around in unease; again, everything was as he remembered it when he left, and it all felt as tangible as his own flesh.

Eve turned around to Dipper, with a renewed sense of warmth and generosity in her face. "There's someone who'd like to talk to you…"

"Hey, bro," came a soft, familiar voice from behind him.

Dipper spun around in a flash. There was Mabel, with a kind smile, and holding a scrapbook under her arm. Mabel had a friendly, but subdued aura about her, that Dipper could feel as she walked towards him.

Dipper was flabbergasted "Mabel!? What are you doing here?"

She smiled. "I hope you weren't planning on having your fantasy world without me."

Dipper was unmoved. "Look Mabel, I'm trying to get you out of here, this… _thing_ is trying to get me to give in to this world, and keep you stuck here forever! You've got to come with me! _Please_."

Eve sliced between them. "And why do you think she'll go with you? What can you give her that she can't get here?"

Dipper looked pleadingly to his sister for support, but she could only look down at her feet in fear and disappointment. "I'm sorry bro," she said, with palpable deliberation, "I can't leave, but you can stay."

Dipper grabbed her by the shoulders, and tried to look into her eyes. "Mabel! Please! L-look! I'll forget all about Great Uncle Ford and staying in Gravity Falls, okay? We can stay together in High School, and…and-"

"And then what?" Mabel asked fearfully.

Dipper froze. "W-what are you talking about?"

She slowly lifted up her scrapbook, stretched it out between them, and opened the first page. A nostalgic glow filled every corner, as Mabel caringly pointed out each picture, a grin beginning to grow on her face. "Look," she whispered, at a photo of the smiling, boisterous siblings at the age of ten, hiking through the woods of California, "Our first camping trip together. You were so excited to try and find Bigfoot, I remember you talking all day in the car about what you would do when you had him," she giggled, before a more familial voice took over. "When you didn't find him…and _that_ happened, we stayed up all night while you read me all your Bigfoot stories. I was tired, but I really liked it. And _you_ , you didn't stop!"

Dipper smiled fondly. "Everyone else always got bored when I tried talking to them about the things I liked to talk about. You were the only person who always cared what I had to say."

"And look," she said, pointing to a photo of a bashful and smiling Dipper, at the age of eight, lifted from the waist by a joyous Mabel, as he held a small trophy in his tiny hands, "This was when you won the Spelling Bee! You were jumping around on the stage you were so happy! Me and the rest of the class just stood on the sides and clapped; I was so proud of you." she paused, " But then you got really sad all of a sudden, just before they were about to take your photo; you looked terrible. I couldn't bear to see you like that, so I ran up and gave you the biggest hug I could, just as they took the picture! Do you remember when they asked you if you wanted another one without me, and you told them that you'd rather lose the trophy than lose me? Aw, you were the sweetest."

Dipper, now as invested in the memories as Mabel, reached his hands out to hold the book like his sibling. He was enraptured with these wistful reminders of days gone by, days worth remembering when he felt down. He looked back to his sister. "We've always been there for each other, haven't we?"

The siblings soon looked through dozens of memories they had collected, some in Piedmont, some in Gravity Falls, and all together in one perfect collage. They laughed at the funny ones, smiled at the tender ones, and in every single story, they saw a bond as unbreakable as diamond, and twice as precious. As Mabel closed it over, however, her hand started to shake, and to Dipper's surprise, the scrapbook fell to the floor. Her whole body began to tremble, and she clenched her hands anxiously together over her chest.

He grabbed her by the shoulders again. "Mabel! What's wrong?"

Mabel started to breathe heavily, and she continued to look at the floor. "Look, this isn't about Grunkle Ford. I know I kinda acted like a jerk back there, but the truth is, Dipper, I'm really, _really_ scared. I know things are great between us now, and I love being with you, and Grunkle Stan, and Wendy, and Soos… But one day…we're going to grow up, we're going to have our own lives, we'll go to different colleges, we'll fall in love, and start families of our own..."

Her voice started to crack, and Dipper felt a teardrop on his shoe. "It's going to happen one day, and there's nothing we can do to stop it. We're going to drift apart, we're going to grow old, we're going to…you know. And when I get old, all I'll do is remember the fun we had together in the summer we had in Gravity Falls. I don't want to lose that, and Dipper, I can't lose you. I _love you_ Dipper. You mean more than anything in the world to me. Summer's almost over. And even if we beat Bill, we can't beat time.

"But, if we stay here…" she croaked as she turned her tear-glazed eyes to meet her brother's, "We can be Mystery Twins _forever_."

Mabel tightly hugged her brother like it was the last moment they'd ever meet. "Please, please Dipper, I don't want you to leave; stay with me."

Dipper tried in vain to stop crying himself, and clenched his sister just as tight, face planted on her shoulder, and Mabel likewise. In a considerable length of time, the two hugged each other like nothing else existed in the whole world. Dipper started to breathe heavily, and clenched Mabel's clothes tightly. He pulled himself up, and without looking at his sister, he summoned the strength to reply.

"Mabel," he began, "I know how you feel. You're scared of growing up, and I won't lie, I am too. You're scared of losing the ones you love, and I'm scared of that too. But if there's one thing we've always done right, it's that we did it all together. We've fought off dinosaurs, zombies and demons! What does growing-up have on any of that? I want you to know that as long as I have any life in me, I will be there for you. I will pick you up when you fall, I'll do your homework if you can't get it, I will turn down every temptation this Bubble throws at me _just_ to get you out of here."

Dipper smiled. "Please, Mabel. You have to come with me-"

Dipper was stunned by a sudden, push across his chest, coming from his sister. "No Dipper! Bill's taken physical form! He's burned the journals! It's over! I don't want you to die! Please Dipper!" She fell to her knees, and started to cry. She held his hand. "If you leave, you'll never come back!"

"She's right Dipper," Eve interjected sharply. Dipper swung around, having forgotten her presence, which she soon re-established with her infectious smile. "Even your Great Uncle knew it was a lost cause. You and your sister are safe, and you're together."

"Please, Dipper," Mabel begged. "For me, _please_."

Dipper looked back and forth between the Eve's warm smile, and Mabel's forlorn despair. Both of them told the same story; accept the Bubble, and forget about everything else. It was temptation in the most selfish form, self-preservation, and innocent form, the desperate pleas of his sister. It shook him deeply, and he felt it dig down into his gut, and hit him hard. Dipper knew he was at a crossroads, and the various arguments tore through his head. Finally, he came to a decision that was the least bad on the table. He gently relinquished Mabel's grasp, and slowly walked over to the wall. Placing his elbow against it, he rested his head upon his arm. He didn't want to see her face when he said this.

"Look, Mabel, I want you to know, firstly…that I love you too. I love you more than any person or any thing on this Earth. And I want you to know that there is no one I'd rather spend a lifetime of adventure with than you."

He bit his lips, and proceeded. "But when you love someone, you always have to do what's right for them, no matter how hard it is, and whether they understand or not. They may hate you because of it, they may get upset, and the only thing you can hope for is that, one day, they'll understand. I'm sorry Mabel, but I can't stay. I'm going to get through this Bubble, and then I'm going to get you out."

Dipper at first heard nothing, but didn't have to wait long to hear the heartbroken crying start to build, and her subsequent sobbing as she stood up, and ran out the door. She got quieter the further she ran away, but it was still enough to emotionally devastate him. Every second was like a hot knife shredding his soul. He slinked down the wall in dejection, weeping uncontrollably at the hurt he had caused, and all the knowledge that he had done the right thing didn't make the pain one degree better. He felt like the worst person in the world; he had never brought his sister to tears like that before, and the pain of the occasion was worse than he could possibly have imagined. Yet there was something else. Something just felt naturally off about the entire scene, but he couldn't put his finger on it. This disquiet only magnified his sorrow.

Slowly, his crying stopped, and all he could hear was the pitter-patter of the raindrops outside. He took one deep breath, and opened his eyes, to see Eve leering uncomfortably close over him. Dipper was startled, and crawled away to the perpendicular wall, slowly climbing upright with his back and legs. Eve was more menacing than any time he could remember.

"I hope you enjoyed that," she replied coldly.

Dipper was too saddened to get angry to this accusation. "Please, just give me my sister back. I want her out of here," he said, trying to contain himself.

"I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice. You're going to have to face your deepest desire."

Dipper was baffled. If it wasn't Wendy, it wasn't being popular, and it wasn't a lifetime with his sister, what was left? "Okay, just lead me there. I want to get this over with."

"I'm sorry Dipper," she replied frostily, "But you're going to do this part alone."

Before anything but a shocked expression could leave his face, Dipper felt all weight beneath him give way as the floor opened, and a rush of air dampened his screams as he began to plummet into the void. His hand clawed for the edge but only scraped it, and he knew then that all was lost. The light of the hole above him grew dimmer and more distant, despite the futile effort of his outstretched hand, gasping for the light. All he could see in his mind, however, was the caretaker's hostile look of contempt as he sunk below.

It was his last thought before he blacked out.

VOLS RI WKH WRQJXH


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Dipper awoke with the same scream he had when he was falling. He had no idea how long he was out, and all perception of time and space itself had begun to leave him. Rather than the empty wilderness of fog where the caretaker had brought him before, he found himself on familiar ground; it was the same Dreamscape that he had been seen within Stan's mind. It had the same monochromatic haze, eerie quiet, the mist, the litany twisted doors down the barren hallway, and, most disturbingly, pictures on the wall, only without any faces. What was very noticeable was how compact it was, as it stretched straight ahead for an uncomfortably long period, with many twisted junctions along the route. The hallway was very narrow, beset with doors on both sides, and a grand door at the end, fit for a mansion. Looking behind him, Dipper could see that there was nothing but a dead-end. It looked like his only way out was through one of these doors. Lastly, he had no idea whose mind it was. His own? Mabel's? Eve's?

Eve was true to her word, and was nowhere to be seen. Dipper felt an unbearable sense of isolation, dejection, and abandonment within him. To say he lacked motivation was too hopeful, for he was now wrestling with entirely non-selfish reasons to stay. The first was that his sister had told him she wanted him to stay with her, and Dipper knew that it was the only way to stay together, something that meant a lot to him. Mabel was the emotional rock of his life, as he was for her. They worked and played together as long as they could remember, and everyone, friends and teachers, all remarked with shock at how well they got along. Mabel was always there for him when he felt down, when others who should have were not. He thought bitterly about how he had started this mess by accepting Great Uncle Ford's intern-ship; where the hell was that in the Labyrinth of pleasure constructed just for him?

The second new reason to stay was simple; fear. He had been lost in the adrenaline of recent moments, but in the bleakness of the Bubble, he had come to realise the magnitude of what was happening; it was done, it was all over. The world was finished, and everyone was going to die. There was no way to stop Bill now, and everyone would pay the price. If the whole world couldn't stop him, how could some pathetic 12 year old boy? But then, the most bone-chilling thought of all ran through his head; _he did this_. He had made this happen, by not looking after what Ford said to look after. The strength in his limbs failed him, and he grabbed his hair so intensely he nearly pulled it out; he was coming to despise each and every part of himself. The emotional torment of the Bubble drove him to near insanity. He was entering a stage of total emotional devastation.

"I'm the worst person in the world," he whimpered, and this time, there was no Mabel to help him.

All was going exactly to plan.

One of the doors just was beside him on his left, somewhat ajar, and in the crack, giving off a stupendous light. Dipper could hear a crescendo of applause building behind it, and yet, it sounded oddly familiar. He stumbled to his feet, the mystery enough to distract his turmoil, and put his hand to it, slowly peeling the door back, as the applause rushed into the hallway. He saw nothing behind the blinding light, but walked into it anyway, seeing nothing for him in the bleakness of the hallway. As his second foot met the first on the other side, the world faded into existence, and Dipper recognized it immediately; it was the school stage back in Piedmont. The blinding light had gone, replaced by the natural lighting of the windows of the assembly hall. None of the half-faded adults in the substantial crowd, or any of the large amounts of kids in the first three rows before him seemed one seemed to notice him, and continued clapping for this other person on the stage, a little kid beside an appropriately levelled microphone. Dipper slowly walked to the front of the stage, safe in the knowledge he was undetected, and tried to see the face of whomever was there with him, who was now himself shielding his eyes with one hand, and looking over the audience, as if he was searching for someone. Before Dipper even got close to him, he could see the outline of his old brown hat, and, in an existential chill, he realized that it was _himself_. Briefly stopping to collect his thoughts, he rushed up to the front to get a glimpse of his own younger face. It was all there, from the blotchy nose to the baggy eyes, but his expression was telling its own story. He had a smile, but it was slowly draining from his face, and it was slowly replaced by a desperate anxiousness, as it glanced around every corner of the crowd, and twice over. Finally, the younger he frowned, and his hand fell down to his side in dejection.

His lip quivered, and he muttered so quietly that no one would hear him. "Mom, dad…you said you'd be here…"

The shock of this memory triggered a violent, painful reaction in Dipper's mind, as all the painful recollections of that day came flooding back. He ran back to where he entered, and slammed the door tightly behind him, holding his weight against it, as if it could keep the memories out. Cold sweat trickled down his forehead, with a thousand emotions surging in uncontrollable directions. As he looked ahead, he saw the nearby door on the other side of the room was open too. He debated within himself to see what was through it, but felt a bizarre, burning passion within him to find out.

Slowly releasing his grip on the door behind, he moved towards its opposite number. As he creaked the door back, and shielded his eyes from the light, he once again saw the new world materialize around him. It was a forest, lit by the moonlight, and alive with the sound of birds and crickets. Ten feet in front of Dipper. in the dirty open of a clearing, the embers of a dead camp-fire filled the air with a smoky haze, and two tents were to be seen on either side of it. Both were illuminated within, but the one on the right had a discussion inside to go with it, though the words could not be distinguished. Dipper was desperate for answers, and crept methodically towards this conversation. As he got closer, he could see the outline of a boy's head through the translucent sheet. He didn't need to know anything else; he already knew it was him. Furthermore, he already knew that this was that same camping trip that Mabel and he were talking about earlier. A large part of him screamed to go back through the door, but a perverted curiosity kept him going. As he looked at his own doppelganger's silhouette, he could see the neurotic, and anxious arm movements that confirmed his own presence. Yet despite preparing for the memory to return, it hurt him deeply to hear it play out again.

"I-I'm sorry," he heard his younger self say, "I was trying to find-."

A voice that was at once familiar yet a stranger was heard within the tent, and cut him off with a harsh, piercing tone. "Dipper," said the voice of his father, "Do you know how much work I could have done in the time we spent here? You know, that thing that puts food on the table? Me and your mother work all day, just so you can put clothes on your backs, so you can be a little more thankful that I spent even a day out here, crawling with insects, while you chased a fake monster. Go sleep in your sister's tent tonight, and take your sleeping bag."

There was a long pause, broken only by a sigh of rejection. "Okay, dad," came the joyless reply.

As the younger Dipper reluctantly fulfilled his father's orders, and began to pack his belongings to go to the other tent, the Dipper of the present day cringed and tensed at the awful sensations being relived. He could see his younger person crawl out, bag over his back, making a slow march towards his sister's tent. His face had the crumpled look of embarrassment, fear, and deep-seated sorrow. As his younger self drew near to the tent, Dipper could see Mabel's head begin to emerge from the crevice. After seeing her brother in such a state, she leapt out and to her feet, pacing towards him.

"Dipper?" she asked. "What's the matter?"

Younger Dipper dropped the bag in the dirt, and refused to lift his head. Mabel stared in confusion, and put her hand over her brother's shoulder.

Mabel was confused. "Why are you taking your sleeping b-" she began, before stopping when she understood what had happened. Her face turned to a depressed frown, and tried to look her brother in the eyes.

"Dipper, listen to me, it's not your fault."

Even though his head was tilted, she could still discern the burning streams down his face. He lifted his head slowly, and meekly asked the only thing going through his mind: "How come he doesn't he love us, Mabel?"

She had no reply other than an immediate, and warm hug; her brother responded in kind.

The older Dipper was ripped asunder by regret. He wanted to jump into his dad's tent and try to grab him, and ask him what possessed him to kick out his own son from the tent into the night. He wanted to run into the forest and disappear. He wanted to tell his younger self not to listen to his dad, and to thank his sister for always being there for him. Nothing, however, could truly convince him of any course of action. He slowly walked back to the door, leaving once last glimpse of a fonder memory, the love of his sister, and walked back through.

Closing the door behind him, he sighed under the emotional baggage he had undergone on this whole adventure. He was exhausted in both mind and body, and didn't feel like there was anything left to give. As he turned around, he saw two feet on the floor that weren't his. He leapt backwards in shock against the door. His face rushed to meet the eyes of whoever it was; it was Eve. Despite being so cold and menacing to him before, he was glad to see her, and at once, a rush of relief surged through his senses.

"Eve! Oh, am I glad to see you!" Dipper sighed, under the duress of traumatic bonding.

Eve had returned to her warm smiling, as if none of what had happened with Mabel had ever transpired. "Thanks Dipper. Sorry about sending you here, but I think you can see that you needed to see those things alone. Now can you guess what was behind that door back when you first met Mabel here?"

Dipper frowned. "Yeah," he replied, too hurt to continue this train of thought.

"They did it all, Dipper," said Eve. "Everything about you. Every little piece of you comes from making up for your parents' neglect. They were why you and your sister bonded so much. Your parents were never there for you in the good times or the bad, but you and Mabel always were. Your parents never showed you an iota's worth of the love Mabel had for you. Who was there at your Spelling Bee? Mabel. Who taught you how to have social skills? Mabel. Who always cared about what you liked, what you did, and how you were doing? _Mabel_. She wasn't just your sister; she was your mother and your father in one. Take a look around you Dipper. Do you see all these doors? Each is a memory of your parents failing to live up to their basic duties."

Dipper glanced around slowly, and realized, to his sadness, that he couldn't count all the doors.

"Your parents are why you always worked so hard in school. You always asked yourself why Mabel showed you more love than your parents, so you came to the conclusion that if you could impress them academically, they'd give you the same appreciation that she gave you. You studied all night, worked hard every single day in school, completed every piece of homework, and you thought they'd come into your life. But they never did.

"Why did you think they hated you? Oh yes, you worked that one out a while ago. You couldn't understand how anyone could purposefully have kids, and then neglect them. So you came up with a theory; they never expected twins, and when they did, they just pushed the pair of you to the sidelines, because they couldn't handle two. And since you were the younger twin, you got the brunt of the blame. Sure, your father's a workaholic, and mother's always out with friends, but that thought never left you once it entered.

"And you have thought about it. Every day you've been here, in Gravity Falls, you've thought about it. Why? It sums up what they feel about you. You and Mabel were _exiled_ to the middle of nowhere, for a whole summer, while they got to do whatever they wanted. They left you in the tender mercies of a con-man, to move inventory. No visits, no letters, no telephone calls, nothing. While all the other kids at school got to go with their parents to wherever they wanted, your parents wanted nothing to do with you."

She began to walk towards the end of the hall, and Dipper tagged along, devouring every word of her sermon as gospel, and accepting it without resistance, the will for such having left him.

"And that's why you wanted to be an adult too. You wanted to get out of the pain of being the weak one, to be the one in charge for once. You wanted people to like you because you were never well-liked yourself, and every compliment became the world to you. You've been desperate to prove yourself to them, to win them over, so you imagine yourself discovering monsters, becoming world-famous on account of your discoveries, all to show your parents up. Not one desire you have doesn't stem from the travesty of your upbringing.

"Dipper Pines, what your parents did to you was not normal, and no child should ever suffer from the failure of the people who should care about them most. It's not fair that a child as smart, and talented as you was saddled with such people. We're going to make it right."

As her conversation ended, the pair had reached the end of the hallway, and the grand door loomed ominously before them. Dipper, despite his exhaustion, stared at it in anticipation, not knowing what would happen next. Then, he heard the creaking of wood, and the door pulled itself back slowly, with a blinding light enveloping both Eve and Dipper. Dipper shielded his eyes, enough to discern two adult silhouettes cautiously walking into the hallway. Dipper knew at once it was his parents, but was so emotionally broken that he couldn't raise any reaction. He just stared tiredly, and awaited what came next.

There was his dad, the same colour of hair as Dipper, though curlier, and obviously thinning. He wore spectacles that hadn't the smallest scratch on them; Dipper's father had always been very precise about his glasses, and preserved them with his life. His face was clearly worn and world-weary. He wore the same suit he always wore to work, and Dipper could never remember him dressed for anything else. That degrading red bowtie, eternally pristine white shirt, and belt holstering up pants that were clearly too big for him. His glance was forlorn, and he held himself with total shame, shuffling slowly in front of his son. Trailing behind was his mother, dressed in that accursed pink dress she wore all the time, that signified she was going out with her work friends for the night. Her hair was all done, her heels were on, just like she was about to have another night on the town. She held the same look of self-loathing that her husband had, and trotted beside him.

Dipper stared at his parents. Normally, despite all the highs and lows he went through with them, he would have been pleased to see them. However, after seeing his worst memories played out in agonizing detail before him, and the revelations of what Eve had said to him, he felt an indifferent emptiness within him. Because of this, he refused to make the next move. Eve could feel it, and stepped back from the three.

S-Son," began Dipper's father, in a voice that was felt more than heard, "There's no other way of saying it; I'm sorry. I know you're mad at yourself, and you hate yourself right now, but listen to me, none of this is your fault. I shouldn't have put work in front of you all my life. I missed so many things that I wanted to be a part of, but I kept getting held back by life. But, you know, I've come to realise you _are_ my life. You're my legacy, my namesake. And I've let you down."

He began to get teary-eyed, and was too ashamed to lift his head. "I want you to know, no matter if you believe it or not, I _love_ you. And from here, right now, I'm never going to let you or your sister be second place in my life again. We can go on a camping trip like you wanted. You name it, wherever, whenever. I just want to spend time with my own son."

He stepped back, too emotional to continue. Dipper's mother looked worriedly at her husband, clearly not ready to face her child, but she awkwardly stepped up to the plate, and confessed.

"We…really don't deserve you Dipper. You've always been a nice kid. You never got in trouble, you always did great in school, and you were always kind to your sister. Now, I know I spent…so much time with my friends from work, and I never really spent much time with you. I now understand that…you didn't have those things. You didn't have all that many friends in school, and you were lonely. And I'm a horrible mother for having neglected you like that. I understand if you hate me, and if I were you, I'd probably hate me too. Please Dipper," she said as she broke down, "I want a second chance!"

Dipper looked to the pleading eyes of his mother, and the shame of his father, who couldn't even bring himself to face him. Dipper had wanted to hear this speech for at almost half of his life, but it did not make him feel better. He imagined a feeling of bliss would enrapture him, but instead, he felt a rising tide of bitterness escalate within his body. He began to tremble, and clenched his fists. The pent-up, ruthless rage that had accumulated with every slight, every missed event, every cold and lonely night, burst with volcanic fury.

"If you didn't have the time to take care of us, why were we born!? Huh!? Why did we get along with babysitters better than you!? They were in our lives more than you were! While all Mabel's friends went to Paris, and Rome, with their parents, _our_ parents kick us out like _garbage_ to the middle of nowhere, so you can go to your lousy parties, and you can work in a job you love more than your own kids! Well, you know what!? Some day _I'm_ gonna have kids! Yeah, you're probably laughing that I'll ever even get a girlfriend, but I'm gonna get a degree, leave Piedmont forever, and then I'll be appreciated by people who love me, and not just because it fits in their crummy schedule! And you know what I'll do when I'm a parent!? I'm gonna take my kids out on adventures, teach them to ride a bike, and always show up at the school plays, _because I will make damned sure that I'll be a better parent than both of you put together_!"

When he stopped, everyone became aware of the eerie quiet in the room. Dipper's anger had left him, and most of his energy too, not having the strength to say one word more. He could already see he had done his damage; both of his parents had begun to cry, and neither had any comeback to a sentence he spoke. Dipper did not expect this, but he felt a sudden surge of empathy, and turned away from their suffering. He wanted to say he hated his parents, but he didn't. He wanted them to understand how he felt, and he got that, but he realized this was more than he asked for. He did not like their pain, yet he was not sorry for one word he had said.

As he calculated what to say next, he heard the familiar voice of Eve just behind him. "Dipper, please, you have to accept them."

"What? And give in? Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" he asked, with a false bravado, the remnant of his rant, to inflate the will he knew was no longer there.

"No one's judging you. You are a twelve-year-old boy, trying to fight a demon older than this Universe has existed. He has taken physical form, and there's nothing you can do now."

The dormant feelings reawakened, and a cloud covered his mind. "This is all my fault…" Dipper shuddered, as Depression and self-hatred began to devour him.

"No!" came a voice from behind him; it was his father. "Don't blame yourself, Dipper! Bill is the only one to blame. My boy is innocent. He is smart, kind, and brilliant! And I couldn't be prouder to have him for a son!"

Dipper stared in bewilderment; his own father had never said something like that about him. He found, even now, an unbreakable familial connection start to form, ensnaring him down the road of temptation. "Y-you mean it?"

"Yes, of course! You're doing things I could never have dreamt of doing when I was a kid! I'd always brag about you in the office about how you were always so smart, but I never gave you the appreciation you deserve. I want to make up for that. Please son! I want to love you!"

Every thought in Dipper's head told him to give up. His mind ached, as he struggled to remember his motivation. He collapsed against the wall. "This isn't real, this isn't real…" he repeated to himself, to try and stem the strength evaporating from his soul, but to no avail.

"Your sister is real, Dipper. And it could never be her dream world without you." said Eve, with a rocky determination in her voice. "And the last thing she wants is for the person she loves more than anything on Earth to get himself killed by taking on something that can't be beat."

She was moving in for the kill. "The world has always been an awful place for you Dipper. You were bullied in school for having a birthmark, you never had any friends, and your own parents were never in your life. But here, in the Bubble, it all goes away. Hate will turn to love, foes to friends, and 'misery' and 'suffering' will be words to be forgotten. Do it for yourself, for your sister, _for the parents you deserved to have_."

The spectrum of emotions ran across Dipper's mind, and the cold sweats broke out all over his pale skin. He felt every morsel of resolve crumble under the carpet bombing of manipulation the Bubble had pulled on him, and it didn't stop. All his arrogance at the start has proven wrong; he was doomed the whole time. He felt his will fading, and on it faded…until it had gone.

His pupils dilated, and he felt a mountain's worth of weight lift off his shoulders. His feet felt lighter, like a puppet on a string. He immediately felt the change, that all his cares had burned away, and that he was truly special, and appreciated for once in his life. He was unfamiliar to this euphoria, but reveled in it.

"Mom! Dad!" he called out in joyous ovation.

The pair turned around breathlessly. "Yes son? What is it?" asked Dipper's anxious father.

He looked at his father in the eyes. He was proud at the man he called 'dad', and couldn't love him any more if he tried. And he looked at his mother, and thought that he was the luckiest boy in the world to have her. "Can we go on that camping trip, together, please?"

His father's jaw dropped underneath his sharp intake of breath, the result of his relief. Dipper's mother put her hand to weary, but lifted heart. Father ran to son, and skidded along his knees to reach him, like his life depended on it. He hugged his son with more affection than at any time Dipper could remember; it felt just like Mabel's hugs. Soon his mother joined in, and all of them let this moment sink in. In that moment, there was nothing but the three of them, and they were all crying uncontrollably, over thirteen lost years, and the hope of many more to make good. It was the first time Dipper had ever truly felt that his parents loved him, and it was the most magical feeling that ever crossed his body. Dreams, it seemed, did come true.

* * *

"I broke him, sir."

"You mean Pine-Tree?

"Indeed."

"Ha! How long did he hang in?"

"He was resistant to me at first, but I made quite sure that he wasn't going to leave. He gave a spirited defence, for such a futile endeavor."

"So ya made a bet that if he could make his way through it, you'd hand over Shooting Star? High stakes player, huh?"

"Nonsense, he could never win, not if _mommy and daddy_ told him to give up. He thought he could beat me, the idiot. He's my little puppet now. I must say, it was quite exhilarating to crush that temerity of his."

"How're ol' Red and Question Mark hanging in?"

"They've been dealt with; easy meat, like the Pines sister. Now I'm stuck with these four until you get around to dealing with them. How long will it take for you to finish this dimension off?"

"Ha, ha! Yeah, Eve, about that…looks like we've kinda run into a snag, so you're gonna have to look after them for a little longer. Can ya do that for me, doll?"

"We've waited billions of years for this; a few more days is nothing. Once they fall under my influence, they can't come back. I guess I can take it easy. The boy's 'parents' are his ideal; he'd jump of a cliff if they said so. Won't do him much good when you show up, of course, sir."

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	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Piedmont never looks more beautiful in the evening of early fall, and this day was no exception. The amber skies, dotted with gentle clouds, and the bloom of autumn colour along the ground gave a majestic aura around the Pines house. Dipper could have stayed outside all night, and looked at the stars until morning, but he'd already done it, only in the forest with his dad and sister. It went much better than last time around. The three had followed Bigfoot's tracks to the creek, and just managed to catch a glimpse of the elusive creature behind the tree. There was nothing but his eyes to prove it, but it was enough for Dipper; next time, the big guy wouldn't be so lucky. That incredible bond he shared with Mabel had been maintained, only expanded to include his father, and it filled the gaping hole Dipper refused to even acknowledge in his life. They fished together, made camp together, and told stories together, just like Dipper always wished for. It was as beautiful as the rural Californian sky at night.

The three marched through their door, into their lively, completed home. Dipper at once felt a state of comfort and safety as he heard the door close behind him. Their bodies told them they were exhausted, but the buzz of companionship and adventure still kept their minds racing.

"Oh my gosh, Mabel, that was literally the best day of my life!" Dipper said with an enthusiasm mostly unfamiliar to him.

"Don't worry bro!" she replied with a voice that was ready for more. "We're gonna get that damned dirty ape next time!"

Dipper laughed playfully. "What are you gonna do? Distract it with fashion tips?"

"No! We get dad dress up like a girl Bigfoot, we sneak behind it, and boom! We whack him over the head! I saw Bugs Bunny do it once!"

Dipper sniggered warmly at Mabel's imagination.

"Well now, I can't argue with the biological insight of a cartoon rabbit" interrupted their father, with a glint in his eyes, "But we don't quite know if Bigfoot is a he or a she, now. What I do know is that the pair of you need to wash up with the state you're in; I can already smell your mother's cooking."

Dipper raised a light-hearted eyebrow. "Uh, you rolled around in the dirt just as much, dad."

His father smirked, and put a finger to his mouth. "Shh! I've never been in this state before, and I'm trying to see what it's like! To heck with work, I've got some years to make up for."

This answer was good enough for Dipper, and it was good enough for Mabel. Dipper had already forgiven his parents for what they had done, and no string of bitterness crossed his heart. He looked in admiration at the man he was proud to call 'father,' and he knew that he where he wanted to be. But the last line about making up for rectifying mistakes hit a deeper chord with Dipper. He had already grown indebted to his parents, and was looking for ways to become a better person himself.

As Dipper's father retreated into the kitchen, Mabel was about to run upstairs. He placed a hand to her shoulder, just as she was about to leave his grasp. She turned around with the friendly face that was almost unknown to siblings, especially of opposite sexes, a privilege of the Pines family. "Yeah, Dip?"

Dipper still had a deep shyness around other people, and never quite knew what to say when he was being heartfelt. He gave it his best shot, looking awkwardly at his shoes. "Look, Mabel, I was thinking over before, and…I realized I didn't say sorry about hurting you before. It was wrong of me, I didn't want you to cry, I-"

His words were cut short by his sister's hug, one that wordlessly communicated that apologies were not necessary. Dipper was startled, but as her head rested fondly on his shoulder, the loving sensation that flowed across his body silenced any worries. He felt his shame evaporate, as he returned the favour.

"It's okay, bro," she whispered. "You have nothing to be sorry for. You only did what you thought was best for me."

She lifted her head. "I'll take the shower first, okay?"

Dipper stared teasingly. "Can you not take, like, five hours, as usual?"

"Uh, can you remember to pee with the seat up?" she retorted just loudly enough that Dipper was worried his parents heard it. Having stumped him, she made her way up the stairs, and out of sight.

Dipper smiled and shook his head as he began the wait, and was left with nothing but his thoughts. He sat at the bottom of the stairs, and focused on his memories. This time, however, his mind focused in on that agonizing talk with Mabel just before Eve cast him to the Dreamscape. He thought back, and something was bothering him. He had felt the same feeling that he had missed something even when the conversation ended. Now, he felt himself analysing every step of the conversation, and looking for the key to the mystery. The pain of the confrontation had left an almost exact transcript in his mind. He remembered the stories, he remembered the plea from his sister, he remembered his response, and he-

Everything inside Dipper stopped. His whole body went immovable. His mind reeled, and a tsunami of memories now flooded into him; Bill, the terror, and the End of Days. He began to feel sick, and his skin became a deathly pale. He understood what was wrong:

How did "Mabel" know the journals were destroyed?

He never told her, indeed, he never told anyone; fear dictated he keep everyone's head up, and telling them that the journals were gone was not going to help with anything. There was only one explanation: Whatever he had just shared that conversation with, that hug with, that moment with, it was not his sister, it was just a damned figment of the Bubble playing on his emotions. He felt violated, and used like a fool. Even if all else in the Bubble was false, he always felt that his sister was there. Now, he didn't know where she was, and in that moment, his entire body, mind, and soul screamed out in longing to find her, and show that manipulative witch who was boss.

Then his new-found conditioning set-in. Eve had done a great job in deconstructing Dipper's confidence, brick by brick. She appealed to his pride, and his altruism, but also to his fear. Dipper, even in his immense emotional distress as of now, could still feel the glowing acceptance of the house, and he was terrified of losing it. Eve had made him feel useless, pathetic, and ultimately weak-willed, and he knew that, despite uncovering her deception with regards to Mabel, he didn't have the strength of character to break free, and so he got sadder, and the spiral descended. He was still, beneath all this, a kid, and despite all the bravado surrounding his manufactured maturity, and he was _scared_ about having to face Bill. He just wanted to run away from his problems, to where he would never have to deal with the ramifications. However, it seemed, even here, he could never escape the regret, and the disappointment. As he realized, once more, the inevitability of pain, and the moral calling he hadn't the strength to answer, he began to cry silently.

Like clockwork, his parents emerged, and rushed urgently towards him. "Dipper!" his mother pleaded, "What's wrong?"

Dipper ran through what to tell them, if anything. How could he possibly describe the situation? Without as much as five seconds worth of consideration, he sighed. "Forget it. You'd never be able to understand."

"Now look here, son," said his father, who sat just to his left, as his mother sat just to his right, "I don't want my son to be in any pain. I've been too harsh on you before, and now I'm going to make it right. Ask me anything, and I'll do the best I can to come up with an answer.

Dipper initially shuddered at his father's hand being placed on his shoulder, before a soothing ambience came over him. Despite knowing that he wasn't real, he didn't care; this _was_ his father, and no one could convince him otherwise. It made it all the harder to reply to him, but the persistent understanding and kindness on both his parents' faces forced Dipper to take the plunge. He breathed deeply, and began to phrase his question.

"Dad? Mom? Let's say, that…you have something to do. It's extremely important, it's the right thing to do, but there's a catch. You really don't know if you can do it, and if you can't you'll be hurt…badly. And…you'll have to give up things you love. What do you do?"

There was a pause. His parents looked at each other, and then back to Dipper. They moved close to him, and gave him an uplifting hug.

"Son," began his father, "I know what you mean, and I've just gone through something like it, your mother too. We had a responsibility to you and your sister that we failed to keep up with. We just wanted to do our work, or hang out with old friends, and we pushed the most important little guys in our life out into the cold. I want to tell you Dipper, that I know you feel fear, but here's what I want you to do; I want you to feel the fear, and do it anyway. You are stronger, and braver than you can even begin to imagine, and I'm proud to call you my son. You're better than us, Dipper; I know you'd never abandon your sister, or anyone. I have no doubt you'll be the son I always wanted to have. So, if you know it's right, do it, and the you'll find that the Universe will help you along the way."

Dipper's father and mother smiled tenderly at their son, but these words had only made Dipper sadder. It was the answer he knew he had to hear, but it wasn't the one he wanted to hear. His eyes welled with tears, that even shut eyelids could not contain. He hunched in fear, and put his hands to his face, to cover his shame, though his mother and father felt none for him. He spun around and hugged both his parents harder than they were expecting; much to their own amusement.

"Hugging pretty hard, aren't we?" said Dipper's mother affectionately.

Dipper let go slowly, and stared at the ground. He breathed heavily, as he psyched himself up. He lifted himself up with the banister, and staggered to his feet. He meekly turned around, and reluctantly gave them a glance at their eyes, through his own tear-glazed ones. No matter how pathetic he looked, his parents had never been prouder for him. He may have only known them for a day, but it felt like they'd known each other for a lifetime. Dipper snivelled, and then straightened.

"I want both of you to know," he said compassionately, his voice breaking, "That today was the best day of my life, and that you have been the nicest people I could possibly imagine." He paused, unable to continue, desperately trying to regain control of himself, as he body shook in emotional spasms. "And because of this," he spluttered, "I'm going to be the son you deserve."

Dipper spun around and ran to the door, flinging it open, and hurtling himself through it. The screams of his name from his parents tore at his heart, but the adrenaline removed all inhibition. He had reached the street in five seconds, and ran down the empty streets. He had no idea where to go, but he knew he had to get out. Soon, he felt the very fabric of the air turn become denser, and push against him. Dipper flung all his strength behind his legs, trying to break free, but the current against him only grew and grew. It felt like he was swimming against the tide of a river, as he staggered, now at walking pace, against the colossal resistance the texture of the world was composed of, just like a nightmare.

Finally, he felt a blast of coldness, and the resistance stopped. He fell to the pavement, and realized he was free. As he checked his limbs to see if they could operate, he looked back to his house, to see, faintly, the expressions on his mother and father's faces. They looked devastated, their skin turning a deathly blue, as mother hunched into father's arms, with a face that screamed 'How did we go wrong?' Dipper's father looked into his son's eyes, and the two shared a moment that surely mustn't have lasted more than three seconds, but felt like a thousand years. As the father's pitiful face locked eyes with his son, Dipper could see his condition start to lift. Dipper's dad began to smile at his son, and mouthed something. Dipper had never been good at lip-reading, but he could feel the words rather than hear them: "I'm proud of you." Dipper slowly smiled back, and raised a hand to say goodbye.

At that moment, the whole world began to shake, and from Dipper's feet, he started to see the grey of the pavement evaporate into a cloudy haze. Soon it began to spread around him, and stretched out in all directions. It consumed the trees, the cars, the houses, before finally reaching his parents. They disintegrated slower than anything else, and Dipper saw their demise in excruciatingly slow detail. As they decayed, they didn't move; his father didn't even break his glance from his son. Soon after, it began to shoot into the sky, until the stars themselves were replaced by that eerie mist which had started this awful test.

At last, there was nothing but the mist, and Dipper. He suspiciously looked around for Eve, or any tricks she still had left. He kept all senses on high alert, but instead, he got the last wake-up call he expected. As he stood up, crouched in preparation for anything, he found his feet getting lighter, and lighter, until he realized that he was in the process of floating. At the same time, he heard an almighty creaking coming from all around him, like a tree about to fall over. He reached out to grab something, and maintain his earthly tether, only to find that there was nothing in any direction. As he left the ground for the first time, the creaking became unbearable, and near deafening. Despite nothing happening around him from what he could see, and no cold or wind on his skin, he could hear the rushing of air in his ears.

Then he blacked out again.

BRX GRQ'W KDYH WR EH SHUIHFW


	6. Epilogue

Epilogue

Pain. Everywhere. Dipper felt cuts and bruises all over his body, not to mention aches stretching from his head to feet. Even without knowing where he was, he knew he was already in serious pain. His eyes were closed, but he listened out for clues as to where he was. He could hear bird-song, the racing of wind, and calls of insects. 'Alright' he thought, 'I'm in the forest.' He wiggled his legs to try and get a hold as to where he was. He could feel grass, twigs, and painfully uneven ground, all going to confirm his hypothesis. He finally felt the courage to open his eyes, and he squinted through the trees to make out the sky. It was a perverted haze of colours, none of them natural, and for a moment, Dipper shuddered that he was dreaming again. Then an even deeper shudder came, as it dawned on him that this was _reality_. This shock gave him enough motivation to try and leap up, but he found his body much less compliant than his heart. He stumbled back up, and looked around for clues. Seeing nothing, he leaned against the trunk of the nearest tree.

"Hello!?" he called out. "Is there anyone here?"

" _I'm right here, Dipper Pines_ ," came a venomous voice on the other side of the bark.

Dipper leapt away from the tree with a shriek, and saw the shattered figure of Eve, limping and emerging from the darkness. He fell backwards, as the horrible sight asserted herself; while Eve always had an unsettling vibe, she had turned positively horrid. Her eyes, once charming and green, were two scorching red dots, with no semblance of humanity. Its hair was oily and unkempt, and its face was hollowed. It seemed the flesh of her face was draining. Its robe was now dirty and torn, so Dipper could finally see through it, and this was what horrified him most of all. Its entire body below the robe was composed of rotting flesh, yet still undulating, and alive. Its hands had come out, devoid of any colour like its face, but with claw-like fingernails with ends as sharp as knives. It was hunched in agony, leaning against the tree to stand up. On any other day, it would have slaughtered Dipper easily, but now that it was wounded, she had nothing left to give.

" _I have to hand it to you, you beat me. I didn't expect that for sure_ ," it smiled grotesquely, before breaking off to cough. Her coughs were as loud as gunshots, as she spluttered to regain control. " _Your three companions are alive too. You won; the Bubble tumbled because your sister wasn't giving it power, and it got popped on a…_ " It broke off its sentence to laugh hysterically. Dipper was as confused as he was terrified. It continued, _"Popped on a Pine Tree! Yes, that's some fine irony_."

"Coincidence," muttered Dipper sheepishly.

" _What?_ " the monster leered.

"That's not irony, that's coincidence. Irony is when it's the opposite of what you thought would happen."

Eve groaned, as it slid against the bark of the tree in defeat. Weakly leaning, it asked wearily, _"And you wonder why you don't have friends? How could I be destroyed by a useless tool like you? You idiot; you threw away every pleasure in the world, and for what? More pain, suffering, and inevitable death?_ "

Dipper began to stand up, and found a sense of inner defiance he had long dreamt of getting out. With Eve's weakness, his inhibitions began to leave, and he asserted himself. "Yeah, it was nice to finally have parents that cared about me and my sister all the time. It was nice to have a day with them, maybe a week, or a month, or a year, or maybe even a hundred years! But, still, one day, it's just gonna burn out. The only way that things matter is if they don't last forever. This crazy summer with my sister! It wouldn't have meant anything if it lasted forever! I had to live each and every day like it's my last here! And pain? If I didn't know what pain was, how could I know what pleasure was? If I didn't have my mom and dad not really loving me, how would I have known how much my sister _did_? It's the bad things in life that make us appreciate the good stuff. If I just had a lot of good stuff thrown at me all time, I'd never grow as a person. I'd rather live one crazy rollercoaster than live a 'Leave it to Beaver' sketch forever! Yeah, life kinda sucks, I'll admit it, but it's not about what happens to you, it's the people you spend the ride with."

Eve laughed bitterly. " _Believe that if you want. Even if you stop him, what then? Summer's over! You'll go back to your parents that don't care a damn about you! No one will ever know what you outside this deadbeat town! You're gonna live to be nothing, you shy, pathetic, meat-sack!_ "

Dipper held his nerve, and walked over to Eve. With the amount of space she had tumbled down, they stared at eye-level. Despite the burning, evil look in her eyes Dipper felt a soaring motivation in his gut, and stared her down. "I'm gonna do this for the parents I never had. I don't care if they're not real; they were real to me, and I'm gonna make them proud. When I was in the Bubble, you tried to trap me with fame, but I'm through with it. All I need are the ones close to me, and would do anything for me: Mabel, Grunkle Stan, Soos, Wendy, Great Uncle Ford! Why would I want anything more? You can't tempt me with anything, anymore!"

Dipper turned around, and began to walk off into the woods, to find his companions. Eve stared in bewilderment at this child, who had somehow outfoxed him, and ended up breaking her instead.

As he was about to exit sight, Dipper stopped. He thought for a moment about the tales he had experienced in the last three months, all the joys, adventures, and memories. In that one moment, he considered himself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth. He stood unconquered, and unbroken.

"Summer's over," he said, just loudly enough for Eve to hear him.

He straightened, and began to smile nostalgically. "But I'm not sad it's over, I'm just glad it happened."

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The End


End file.
